Etymologically
Log in

plump

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the English word plump

Pronunciation

plump1 fall heavily; plump for

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1300 Kyng Alisaunder
Borrowed from
Middle Dutch plompen via Middle English

Etymology

The verb meaning to fall heavily is inherited from Middle English plumpen, also plump, past tense plumte,[2] probably borrowed from Middle Dutch plompen (“to fall into water”), or Middle Low German plumpen,[3][4][5][6] which are probably of imitative origin.[3][4][7][5] The MED and the American Heritage Dictionary suggest Low German more cautiously,[2][8] and the OED takes the English verb as ultimately imitative itself, comparing the continental words: plumpen (Dutch plompen), the Middle Low German verb and Middle High German plumpen (“to make a plumping noise”), all used of falling or plunging into water with a plumping sound, and Danish plumpe (“to flop, let fall”).[9] Etymonline adds East Frisian Low German plumpen and imagines the sound of something hard striking something soft.[10] The OED compares other imitative verbs in “-ump”, such as bump, dump and thump, and thinks the likeness to Romance words from Latin plumbō (“to weight with lead”) no more than chance;[9] Etymonline and Weekley suggest that it was influenced by plumb, Middle English plumben (“to immerse in liquid”).[10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

To plunge into water: Barnhart dates it to before 1300 in Kyng Alisaunder, where two divers “plumten doune as an doppe Jn þe water”;[3][2] the OED and the MED date that manuscript to about 1400.[9][2] Etymonline dates the verb to about 1300, meaning to fall into water or to strike with full impact.[10]

Semantic evolution

By the 15th century the verb was also transitive, to plunge or drop something, especially into water;[9][2][3] it could mean to blurt out from 1579,[9][6] and to land with a thud, or to drop heavily into a chair, from 1673.[9] In 18th-century slang to plump someone was to strike or shoot him (Grose, 1785), and a plump in the bread basket was a blow to the stomach.[9][10] The election sense, to give all one's votes to a single candidate when entitled to vote for more, is recorded from 1806 in Liverpool;[9] it led to plump for, to choose one of several options or to back one strongly;[9][7] Weekley notes that the voting use first appears in the 18th-century noun plumper, an undivided vote,[11] and Hoad derives it from the adverb plump.[6] The adverb, with a sudden heavy fall or bluntly, dates from 1594,[7][10] and the noun, a heavy fall or plunge, from 1596;[9] in Scotland plump was also used of heavy rain.[9][4]

Timeline

  • c. 1300 – to plunge into water.[10][3][2] The OED dates the manuscript to about 1400.[9]
  • before 1475 – transitive, to plunge or drop something into liquid.[9][2]
  • 1579 – to utter abruptly, blurt out.[9]
  • 1594 – adverb, with a sudden heavy drop.[7]
  • 1596 – noun, a heavy fall or plunge.[9]
  • 1673 – to land with a thud, drop heavily into a seat.[9]
  • 1785 – slang, to strike or shoot (obsolete by 1873).[9][10]
  • 1806 – to vote for only one candidate; later plump for, to choose.[9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To drop, fall or sit down suddenly and heavily: He plumped down on the sofa with a sigh.[7][9][4]
  2. To set or throw something down heavily or abruptly.[9][4]
  3. plump for: to choose one of several options, or to support one strongly: In the end we plumped for the cheaper hotel.[7][9]
  4. (chiefly British) To give one's vote to only one candidate when entitled to vote for more.[7][9]
  5. (rare) To blurt out.[9][6]

Noun

  1. A sudden plunge, heavy fall or blow, or the sound it makes.[7][4][9]

Adverb

  1. With a sudden heavy drop: The cat landed plump in the puddle.[7][4]
  2. Directly, bluntly; without hesitation.[7][4]

Word family

  • plumper

plump2 rounded, chubby

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1481 Caxton, History of Reynard the Fox
Borrowed from
Middle Dutch plomp via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Middle Dutch plomp

Etymology

The adjective meaning rounded is late inherited from Middle English plompe (“dull, rude”),[12][11] probably borrowed from Middle Dutch plomp (“blunt, dull, stupid”),[9][3][10][7][4][13] or Middle Low German plomp (“blunt, thick”).[8][3][4] The OED gives the Middle Low German cognate plump the senses clumsy, uneducated and crude, and leaves the further origin uncertain, perhaps ultimately expressive;[9] Barnhart, Etymonline and the Shorter Oxford relate the Dutch adjective, more or less probably, to plompen (“to fall heavily”), the source of plump1.[3][10][4] Middle High German plump (“crude, squat, blunt”), now plump, and Swedish plump and Danish plump (“rude, coarse, clumsy”) are all from Middle Low German,[9][4] and Etymonline notes that the Scandinavian words developed differently in sense.[10] Johnson knew no etymology, and reported Skinner's derivation from French pommelé.[14]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rude, unrefined or dull of mind: 1481, in Caxton's translation of the History of Reynard the Fox.[9][3] Etymonline dates the sense blunt, dull in manners to the late 15th century.[10]

Semantic evolution

The old sense dull, rude lasted until about 1630, and in 1545 Ascham used the word of a blunt, broad arrowhead.[9] In the same year it appears in its modern sense, of a person or a body that is filled out and somewhat fat;[9][10] Barnhart finds it implied in plumpness in 1545.[3] The Oxford Dictionary of English thinks the sense became favourable perhaps by association with plum,[15] and Weekley also suggested plum and plumb;[11] the Shorter Oxford compares Middle Low German plumpich (“corpulent”).[4] From 1600, in Ben Jonson, it was used of things that are full and rounded, and figuratively, for abundant or rich, from 1635.[9] The verb, to make or become plump, dates from 1533, slightly earlier than the matching sense of the adjective.[9][7][10] Johnson (1755) defined it as “somewhat fat; not lean; sleek; full and smooth”.[14]

Timeline

  • 1481 – rude, unrefined, dull (obsolete by 1630).[9][3]
  • 1533 – verb, to make or become plump.[9][7]
  • 1545 – of a person or animal, filled out, chubby; of an arrowhead, blunt.[9][3]
  • 1600 – of an object, full and rounded.[9]
  • 1635 – figuratively, abundant, rich.[9]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Pleasantly full and rounded in figure; somewhat fat; chubby: a plump little hen.[13][7][9]
  2. Full and rounded in shape: plump ripe tomatoes.[13][7][9]
  3. Of an amount of money, generous or ample: a plump bonus.[13]
  4. (obsolete, 1481–1630) Dull, blockish or rude.[9][4][6]

Verb

  1. To make or become plump, often with up or out: She plumped up the cushions on the sofa.[13][7][4]

Word family

  • plumpish
  • plumply
  • plumpness

Usage notes

A third plump, now archaic or dialectal, means a cluster or group, or a flock of waterfowl; it is of unknown origin, and Weekley notes that Scott revived a plump of spears in Marmion.[4][7][9][11]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  11. ^ a b c d e Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  12. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  13. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  14. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  15. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press

Related etymologies

  • poke · also from Middle Dutch
  • smack · also from Middle Dutch
  • curl · also from Middle Dutch
  • stripe · also from Middle Dutch
  • peg · also from Middle Dutch
  • rumble · also from Middle Dutch
  • roe · also from Middle Dutch
  • clamp · also from Middle Dutch
Cite this entry

“Plump.” Etymologically, 1 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/plump. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·